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Fundralsing
Fundraising plans * Fund Raising * County Finance Chair * Finance Committee * Duties of Finance Chair and Committee * How to Plan a Fund Raising Dinner * Direct Mail All successful efforts are a result of good planning. Financial goals are achieved as a result of implementing a good county finance fund raising program. Your county fund raising plan should be built around the basic premise that people give to other people. You need to create tools and programs that can be used to match the giver with the appropriate level and the most effective vehicle to be used. The purpose of this section is to give ideas to the county chairs and their committees. Without generating the necessary dollars, your county organization cannot carry out its political plan for the year. County Finance Chair Finances are too important to be cared for in the county party chair's spare time. Therefore, an important priority of the county chair is to appoint a county finance chair and build a strong finance committee. The finance chair, along with the committee (under the supervision of the party chair) will plan all fund raising events. When deciding who your county finance chair should be, keep in mind these five basic guidelines: * Can you, as county chair, successfully work with him or her? * Does he or she have the time and money to devote to the job? * Does he or she know the sources of money in your county? * Is he or she well thought of and highly respected in the community? * Does he or she have the drive and personality to be a successful fund raiser? * If you can answer "yes" to all of these questions, then you have the perfect finance chair. Finance Committee After you have found your finance chair, the next step is for the two of you to recruit your county finance committee. The finance committee should include lawyers, bankers, business executives, small business owners. Pick those individuals with a proven track record of money raising in civic and charitable affairs. Naturally, you run the risk of these individuals being heavily involved elsewhere, but successful individuals have become that way because they know how to make the most of their time and can always find the extra time to do one more job. Your finance committee should include people throughout your county. For example, you may have five members from a large city, two from a middle sized city and one from each significant town around your county. Once you've gotten them on board, they're in place - county wide - and ready to work when you plan your fund raising activities. Duties of Finance Chair & Committee The finance chair and committee should understand the county budget. After all, they are responsible for raising the funds to meet the budget, so they should be confident that it is realistic and well conceived. Lacking this confidence, they will be unenthusiastic about their task, making the fund raising arm of the county organization a failure. The finance chair should plan a very aggressive fund raising calendar featuring at least four events per year. For example: * February - Annual County Dinner * May - Spring Formal Function (Fashion Show?) * July - Corn Roast at County Fair * October - Football tailgate party The reasons for an active calendar are quite simple: * You raise badly needed dollars for the Libertarian party and local candidates. * County Libertarians are kept busy and active. * New people are attracted into the party through the activity generated (of course this will increase your membership and expand your organization). * The finance committee should review past fund raising events and retain those that have proven successful in past years. Questions the committee might ask when determining the success of an event are: * How much money did the event raise before expenses? * How much money did it raise after expenses? * How much volunteer-power and time did the event require? * How could the event have been made more successful? Once a review of past events has been conducted, it's time to plan an aggressive calendar for the coming year. Remember, your calendar should not conflict with major state or national fund raising events, if at all possible. Nor should it conflict with major civic events or fund raising drives if you want to succeed. Avoid soliciting members simultaneously during drives sponsored by organizations such as the Community Chest or United Way. How to Plan a Fund Raising Dinner. The fund raising dinner is one of the best ideas ever conceived, because it combines fun and work, glamour and dollars. The primary advantage of the fund raising dinner is that it has a deadline. Tomorrow is always a better day for most of us, especially when it comes to making contributions. A dinner can generate a substantial amount of money, strengthen the party organization, raise morale and gain publicity if it combines: 1. Good Advance Planning This really means that one of the finance committee members should take on the responsibility of dinner chair. This should be an individual with the time and energy to handle the myriad of details inevitably involved in a dinner (see Special Projects in the Development section for more details about dinner planning and the public relations section). 2. The Right Ticket Price This is usually the most difficult question one must answer in planning a dinner. The problem is this: how to raise as much money as possible without offending those who cannot afford to attend or generate bad publicity. As a general guideline, the answer is to charge as much as the Libertarians in your community can afford. But keep in mind that the idea of having a dinner is to raise money. Don't undercharge for the dinner tickets. 3. The Right Speaker There are never enough truly outstanding speakers to go around. Therefore, it is important that you start your search for a speaker at least three to four months in advance. Remember, most outstanding speakers get hundreds of invitations annually. You'll have to ask early and offer a persuasive reason for a speaker to appear at your dinner. 4. The Right Timing Picking the proper date for your dinner can mean the difference between a roaring success and a dismal failure. Be sure to avoid other events scheduled in your community, especially those that will attract Libertarians. Avoid the summer vacation season and major holidays. If possible, schedule your dinner around the availability of an outstanding speaker. Remember, a fund raising dinner can be your most successful county event of the year if it is well planned and fully organized. Direct Mail Your county finance committee should consider direct mail canvassing. Face to face solicitation is by far the most effective way to raise money. But direct mail can also generate a substantial amount of cash if properly and carefully used. The key to an efficient direct mail operation is having a fertile mailing list made up of known Libertarians, active members of the county organization, people that attend Libertarian activities, and business leaders. A mass mailing to everybody in your county is a highly inefficient means of generating funds. Therefore, you should strive to compile a mailing list from which all dead wood has been pared. It is axiomatic the givers give again. So any mailing list should begin with those who have given in the past. It costs money to type, stamp, address and stuff envelopes, but with the highly sophisticated equipment and consultants available to us today, the task of undertaking a direct mail campaign becomes much easier. Investigate the availability of this equipment and these consultants. A persuasive letter, or a reason for giving, is the heart of the direct mail appeal. The letter must employ a sales pitch and be as personal as possible. Offering some tangible reward for giving, such as a membership card or subscription to a newsletter, can often increase giving substantially. Don't forget to enclose a return envelope. You must make giving as simple as possible for the direct mail donor. Fundraising letters / calls / contacts Holding Profitable Fundraising events Profitable Fundraising Events. Nancy Bocskor- President Nancy Bokskor Company, a fundraising and political consulting firm. This is the last of the campaign management tapes. Fundraising time must be scheduled into the candidate's day. Fundraising is like selling Amway products. It is person to person. Fundraising Pyramid has 3 levels. Top is the Big donors $2,000. Big donors have big egos. They require personal solicitation. They give for access. Midlevel Donors go to fundraising events. They give about $200. They give for social reasons and they want some value, like a dinner. Bottom Level responds to direct mail and to [[telemarketing]]. They give $25 to $50. Low dollar donors are primarily issues-oriented. You need a fundraising plan for every type of donor. You need a variety of events for all types of donors. Big donors want access. They want photo ops with the candidate. Mid Dollar donors give for social reasons. Friends selling tickets to friends. This is a group activity. Home parties in local historical houses. Midlevel donors want some value (like a dinner and a speech) The John Kyl Coffee Cup Club -- for $25 they get a John Kyl coffee cup. They bring their coffee cup to the $25 breakfast fundraisers. Direct mail The average Democratic donor is 72. The average GOP donor is 68. They want to leave a better world for their grandchildren. Fundraisers can fail due to out of control overhead or due to a lack of organization. The objective is to make money so no ice sculptures, filet mignon, open bar. You need a ticket-selling structure. Every mailed invitation should be followed up with a personal phone call. Fundraiser event advantages. Gets media attention. Cheaper way to discover new donors. Way to reward big donors. Way to raise much money. This sets deadlines for ticket sellers. Always underestimate the turnout to the media. This lends credibility to the campaign and shows momentum. Telemarketing costs are often 80 cents on the dollar. Keep fundraising costs to 30%. Fold new attendees in to your current fundraising operations. Use two or three-tiered events. 1. a $500 photo op 2. A $100 barbecue 3. A $10 a person rally You must be organized enough to segment and target your fundraising market this way. Reward big donors with reserved seats and photo ops. If you want a $15,000 media buy on Oct 15th, you'd better have a fundraiser on Oct 1st. If you charge $25 for a chicken dinner, but the food, taxes, tips, room and bartender come to $20 per person, you will barely break even. But there are alternatives. Hold a breakfast at 7-830 am. Charge $15 5o $20. Have a continental breakfast only. Danish, fruit juices, coffee only. Keep costs down. No liquor expenses with a breakfast. Also hold fundraisers at local diners in a side room. Hold a lunchtime fundraiser for $25 to $50. No liquor needed at lunch at a diner. Hold a reception from 6-8pm. If you control the venue, you can control the costs. Avoid hotel packages because they are too expensive. Use a local Bed and Breakfast, or the local American Legion Hall. You can cater your own food to control costs. Bed and Breakfasts like the publicity because they always pick up an extra wedding reception, etc from the guests. Learn to negotiate with caterers. Bed and Breakfasts will let you bring in your own beer, wine and soft drinks. You could pay an intern $35 to serve drinks. George W. Bush announced for President. He held a $2,000 hot dog fundraiser. This was the low cost gimmick and it netted a lot of money. People were not offended at $2,000 for hot dogs. They were paying for access. No mixed drinks or hard liquor at fundraisers. Make the beer a local favorite. Bar bill could be double the food bill. Control the venue (avoid hotels) and bring your own caterer to control costs. Annual ice cream social for $1,000 apiece. People want to come and make their own sundaes. This event makes $50,000. This is good for candidates from regions that frown upon alcohol. Use colorful, oversized postcards as event invitations. Follow up with personal phone calls. Events can become yearly traditions. The home party kit. Cover letter from the candidate. Sample menu and recipes for 35. Fill in the blank press release. Tips to make the event go smoothly. List of prior donors. This takes the guesswork out for the host. Barbecue with Bill. Had same event duplicated in many Oklahoma cities. Had a standardized oversized invitation that they ran through a printer. Invite 200 people and about 35 show up. Sample menu is for 40 people. Host goes to store and buys $150 worth of food. This is an 'in kind' contribution. The press release is local news, so it is hand delivered by the host to the weekly papers,etc. All politics is local so make it a local social event. Invite the local political reporter. Tips for success. Have a name tag registration table and get info and money from everyone before they go inside. Make sure the name tags are readable from a distance. Send the host and hostess the exact introduction that you want them to read. Make sure everyone pays. Get much info if they do not pay and call them later to make sure that they pay. Barbecue with Bill is a two hour event. But the candidate only speaks for six minutes. He mingles a lot, though. Someone in the crowd will say that they will write another $50 check in addition to the entry fee. This is great way to bring in smaller donors. The admission price depends on the size of the town $15 to $50 depending. If you ever pass around the hat, always put some tens and twenties in it to prime the pump. If donors have already maxed out (have given as much as can be expected) then make sure they are invited as a free special guest. New donors can be asked again from the direct mail program. The home party kit makes it easier. The host or hostess can focus on inviting people. They get 30 days lead time. The host donates food as an in-kind donation. Sometimes you only have 3-4 days to prepare, so you need a ticket selling structure already in place, so all you have to do is pull the trigger. Tiered events have different prices and different activities on the same day. 7am...Continental Breakfast...$100....400 people. 9am...Private Bus Briefing..$500....50 people. Have the tables preset with coffee urns and danish to save on waitstaff costs. Campaign mails out invitations to donor base 35 days in advance to 2000 donors. The ticket selling committee is like a finance committee. It is recruited by occupation, region and areas of interest. Ticket selling committee meets 3 weeks before event. Ask volunteers to make 10 follow up phone calls each. Get a local car dealer, banker, CPA, florist, etc on this committee. These people have membership lists and big rolodexes. They can market to friends, neighbors and colleagues. Interest areas might be NRA or homeschoolers. CPAs keep us out of jail. Bankers keep money locked up in vaults. But salesmen are the best for a finance chairman. They are resilient, don't take no personally, and they are motivated in the Dale Carnegie sense. Each ticket seller fills out a form with the 10 follow up phone calls on it. The tracking system is in place so there is accountability. Every person gets a phone call. You can end up with 400 guests this way. Lessons Learned. Don't reward ticket sellers who don't sell tickets. Follow up invitations with a personal phone call or there will be no response. Recognize and reward the ticket sellers. Negotiate with hotels and restaurants for the best rates. Keep track of who has attended. Preset the tables to decrease waitstaff and the price. People must register first and give information. Companies can buy an entire table, but only send a few people. People who want in for free can talk to that company. Be magnanimous, but don't give away the store. 4 versions of the thank you note. Send these 7-10 days after the event. 1. attended and paid 2. attended and still need to pay 3. Couldn't attend but sent money 4. RSVP'd but didn't show and didn't pay. Be pleasant but persistent. Call again if no check in 30 days. "I'm trying to close the books on that barbecue with Bill event and I can't find your check" Make it look like it might be your fault. This gives a 98% collection rate. People forget. You could also send an email. Once, 17 people gave their checks for $1,000 to the congressman, who put them in his briefcase and forgot about them for several weeks. The phone call brought this to light. To ask for money. Practice the script until it is comfortable. Self confidence is critical. the end. This is the last of the taped programs. Fundraising lists Personal contacts Church and Interfaith contacts Sports contacts Schools contacts Family friends Neighborhood contacts Technology contacts Activists / Political contacts University contacts Hospital and health care contacts PACs=